Cricket 1906

A ug . 16, 1906. CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. 339 BUSSEY’S “DE 1 W 0 N D W S . ” yZ^*TRADE^*X ( < CC- EHf ) MARK __ / GEO. G. BUSSEY & CO,, LTD,, Beg to inform Cricketers all over the world that their new Peckham Factory, the largest and best equipped of its kind, is now completed. Provision has been made for a still further increase in output and the carrying of a finished stock of TWENTY THOUSAND BATS. Geo. G. Bussey & Co., Limited, much regret that for some time past the supply of the FAMOUS “ DEMON DRIYERS ” has been quite inadequate to meet the demand, but during the period of re-building, when the output was necessarily restricted, the finest stock of W ILLOW TIMBER has been accumulating, and now repre­ sents about 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 BATS. Cricketers may therefore rely upon BUSSEY’ S “ DEMON DR IYERS ” being the choicest selection from this enormous stock and THOROUGHLY SEASONED. The flexibility of the Handles is just what Batsmen desire, and the special form of handle covering is the admir­ ation of all players who use “ BUSSEY’ S DEMON DRIYERS.” Catalogue on application to­ rn . G. BUSSEY & CO., L IM IT E D , 36 & 38, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, L O N D O N , O p Provincial and Colonial Dealers. FACTORY— TIMBER MILLS— PECKHAM, S.E. ELMSWELL, SUFFOLK. AT THE SIGN OF THE W ICKET . B y F . 8 . A sh lby -C oopbb . Perhaps the most remarkable, as well as one of the most pleasing, features of the season has been the improvement in the fortunes of Kent. Last year the side occupied the sixth place amongst the counties, and nobody could then have foreseen the great advance which was to take place. There can be but little doubt that, at the present moment, they possess the best-balanced side in the country. Their splendid successes over Sussex and Lancashire, indeed, are worthy to rank with anything the county has ever before accomplished as the result of a week’s cricket. The ease with which the side disposed of its opponents in each of last week’s matches will cause the Canterbury Festival of 1906 to be regarded as a red-letter mark in the county’s annals. At the present moment it will be opportune to give a summary of thematches played at Canterbury by Kent during the past sixty-six years :— o £ -Q 2 . a 1 Against. 2 * 3 ! i 1 P Australians................ .. 1882 .. . 5 . .. 5 ... 0 ... 10 England ................ .. 1841 ... 10 ... 14 .. . 1 ... 25 England, Gents, of ... 1881 .. . 1 ... 0 .. . 0 . .. 1 Essex ........................ .. 1901 .. . 2 ... 0 ... 3 ... 5 Gloucestershire ... ... 1889 .. . 1 ... 0 ... 2 ... 3 H am pshire................ .. 1877 ... 1 ... 0 ... 0 ... 1 Lancashire................ .. 1879 ... 2 ... 3 ... 5 ... 10 M.O.O. and Ground ... 1860 ., . 3 ... 2 .. . 0 ... 5 M.O.O., Gents, of .. 1867 ... 1 ... 8 .. . 1 ... 10 Middlesex ................... 1859 ... 1 ... 4 .. . 1 ... 6 Notts............................ .. 1845 ... 1 ... 3 .. . 2 ... 6 Somerset ................ .. 1894 ... 0 ... 1 .. . 0 ... 1 South Africans ... ... 1904 ... 1 ... 0 .. . 0 ... 1 S u rrey........................ .. 1862 .. . 3 ... 2 .. . 3 ... 8 S u ssex........................ .. 1842 .. . 4 ... 0 .. . 0 ... 4 Warwickshire ... ... 1894 .. . 1 ... 0 ... 1 ... 2 Worcestershire ... ... 1900 .. 2 . .. 0 .. . 0 ... 2 Yorkshire ................ .. 1885 .. . 1 ... 4 ... 3 ... 8 Totals ... — . . 40 ... 46 .. . 22 ...108 The modern history of cricket at Canter­ bury may be said to date from 1841, Kent then first appearing there since Hampshire beat them by 29 runs in Bishopsbourne Paddock as far back as August, 1789. It is an interesting fact that, prior to last week, Sussex had not played at Canterbury since 1844. The decision of the M.C.C. that it is now too late in the day to arrange for the visit of an English team to Australia during our next non-cricket season can scarcely come as a surprise to anybody. Such a tour covers about seven months of the year, and, although it might not be a difficult matter to get pro­ fessional players to undertake the journey at such short notice, it would be quite another matter so far as the leading amateurs are concerned. Australians have only themselves to blame for their disappointment, the recent upheaval having been entirely their own affair. At the presentmoment a truce appears to exist between the players and the govern­ ing bodies, but how long it will last now that the M.C.C. have definitely declined to send out a team time alone can show. It would be unfortunate in the extreme if an English pide went out and the quarrel recommenced during the tour. Until matters are smoothed over, and disputes permanently settled to the satisfaction of all concerned, it were best that no team should leave England. In taking the field without Knox at the Oval to-day, Surrey will be undertaking no light task, for Lancashire is a team which generally plays lather above, than below, its ioim when meeting the Oval side. Should Surreymeet with defeat this week the interest at present attaching to theirmatch at Sheffield on Monday would be lessened considerably. Given fine weather, however, they should at least succeed in drawing with Lancashire, for at the present time they have quite a wealth of run-getting at their command. During their last three matches the form shown by Hayes has been especially good, seeing that his scores have been 97 and 105 not out v. Sussex at Brighton, 67 v. Notts at the Oval, and 155 v. Middlesex at Lord’s. Should he be able to maintain such excellency in his next two matches, and receive good support from such useful run-getters as Hayward, Hobbs, Holland, Crawford, Goatly, Lord Dalmeny and Lees, Surrey should have little trouble in keeping their place at the head of the counties. On Monday last the Wanderers commenced their annual tour with a match against Ton­ bridge, and it is an interesting fact that the club has not been beaten whilst on tour since they lost to Tonbridge by seven wickets in 1897* Apart from the Universities, there is probably no stronger amateur club in the whole country. Amongst the members are such well-known players as S. Colman, R. B. Brooks, W. M. Bradley, R T. and V. F. S. Crawford, C. A., E. A., and G. W . Beldam, C. E. De Trafford, D. L. A. Jephson, A. E. Lawton, L. Walker, A. M. Latham, Dr. H. C. Pretty (who made 200 against Derbyshire on Tuesday), H. B. Richardson, K. E. M. Barker, R. M. Bell and L. De Montezuma. The performances of the Wanderers during the past eight seasons on tour may be summarised as follows :— Against. Won. Lost. Drawn. Total Canterbury ........ 1... 0 ... 0 ... 1 Devonshire Park ... 2 ... 0 ... 1 ... 3 Eastbourne ........ 1... 0 ... 4 ... 5 Hastings............. 4 ... 0 ... 2 ... 6 Hythe................... 1... 0 ... 0 ... 1 St. Lawrence........ 3... 0 ... 1 ... 4 Tonbridge ........ 1... 0 ... 7 ... 8 TunbridgeWells ... 3... 0 ... 2 ... 5 Worthing ........ 2 ... 0 ... 0 ... 2 Totals... 18... 0 ... 17 ... 35 In their match with Eastbourne six years ago they were within an ace of being beaten, for, after declaring their innings closed with onlytwo wicketsdown, leavingtheir opponents 319 to win, the home side made 317 with five in hand by the time stumps were drawn. 'Jhe West Indians have now been in this country for some time, and one is, therefore, able to obtain some idea of the strength of the side. That the team contains some players of distinct ability is certain, but the form they have shown has occassionally been very disappointing. It was unfortunate for the side that, early in their tour, they should have been beaten by one of the minor counties, but the fact that they defeated Yorkshire by over 200 runs more than compensates for more than one disappointing display, although the county was not at full strength, At least half-a-dozen on the side are almost, if not quite, up to county form, and the small amount of success attending the efforts of the team may in a large measure be attributed to their lack of knowledge in placing the field to pre­ vent’ various batsmen making their favourite strokes, whilst Harragin’s inability to par­ ticipate in several of the matches weakened the side considerably. Furthermore, our visitors have not been over-burdened with luck, but that they are a combination capable of giving a good account of themselves against many of the leading counties will be admitted by the majority of those who have watched them play a few times. Ollivierre came over with a great reputation as a batsman, but has scarcely played up to the form rumour credited him with, but